Summary Stem rust can destroy large percentage of world’s second most important grain New stem rust strain is spreading throughout Africa and threatens Asia’s bread basket Identification of effective resistance genes are critical to mitigate stem-rust threat University of California, Davis, researchers have identified a gene that enables resistance to a new devastating strain of…

This technological breakthrough, led by Professor Jan Dvorak at UC Davis, will help decode the massive bread wheat genome, and accelerate wheat breeding. Quick Summary Findings will allow researchers to discover new genes that can improve wheat resistance to diseases Advanced technologies used can be applied to any plant genome Effort has already resulted in…

Summary: The need for scientists — and ecologists, in particular — to engage with the public is well known. This article addresses how the U.S. land-grant mission and the Cooperative Extension system have initiated, developed, and implemented models of public engagement for the past 100 years. Cooperative Extension engages through trusted and established relationships, and…

Plant sciences professor Paul Gepts, who leads the UC Davis bean breeding program, has been selected as “distinguished scientist” for the 2017 Agropolis Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize for Agriculture and Food. The prize is given once every two years to recognize individuals for exemplary and promising contributions promoting innovative research, development and/or capacity building…

U.S. News & World Report has again ranked UC Davis as No. 1 globally in Plant and Animal Science. The Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis is proud of its contribution to this ranking. The department programs cover a broad array of plant science topics for California, the nation, and the world. Our department…

Some trees are better at surviving drought, fire, pests, and diseases than other trees. By identifying the genes responsible for these adaptations, scientists can compile a scalable database that will aid resource managers as they plan long-term conservation strategies, particularly as the climate changes. Professor David Neale, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, showed in…

Contributing to fill a critical need for trained plant breeders, the University of California, Davis, European Plant Breeding Academy (EPBA) started its fifth class of students in October 2017 with a session in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands. With a generous support of local industry represented by Seed Valley, the session was hosted by Monsanto and included…

Louise Ferguson, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences and UC ANR, received the 2017 Outstanding Extension Educator Award from the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Ferguson is a UC Cooperative Extension Specialist and faculty member, starting in the Department of Pomology in 1984, then joining the Department of Plant Sciences when pomology merged into…

Gabe Patin, a leading executive in the seed industry for many years, helped nurture development of the Seed Biotechnology Center (SBC) at UC Davis from the time it was an idea until the day it opened its doors on campus in 2003. He is being honored with an Award of Distinction by the College of…

Summary: Tree-line species are shifting in the Great Basin of the U.S. Limber pine trees are ‘leapfrogging,’ slowly, over ancient bristlecone pines upslope. If limber pine trees block bristlecones from advancing upslope, bristlecones could face local extirpations. * * * * * Bristlecone pine and limber pine trees in the Great Basin region are like…